Quick line from another Spanish observer: Overall [the Ferrari was] very strong, although at the end of some stints the rear was very nervous.
Morning guys. Lewis, the Hulk, and Bottas in today. Can Valtteri back up that the Williams has made progress? Cold track today. Only 14c.
Hello. I have a feeling this is Ferrari's day in terms of the fastest lap. I'm already looking forward to Hamilton's end-of-day comments.
blah blah blah Progress being made blah blah blah still need to find some improvements blah blah blah we're where we exepcted to be blah blah blah. There, saved you wasting 5 mins of your life later!
Sky: Red Bull's pit crew are currently blowing off the cobwebs by performing some pit stop practice. Also, there seems to be more activity on their pitwall this morning - the likes of the team manager and strategist etc are up there. It's Vettel's last day in the car today (for this week at least) and all this activity does point towards the possibility of a full race run later. AMuS: 09:56 Fifth pit stop in order for Vettel. It is interesting that the Red Bull mechanics are working with two different impact wrenches. The old version is always open lying on the asphalt. The new is to use immediately packed in a bag. The competition could indeed abkupfern something. Since the initiative has failed to restrict the pressure may manb assume that Red Bull operates at higher pressures. Of up to 30 bar is talk . 09:51 Mercedes has switched his program. Hamilton began the 2012er exhaust and later switch to lower the Coanda version.
Ted Kravitz is here and has just been discussing this very subject: “We mentioned earlier that Red Bull are doing pit stop practice. In fact, they’re doing a lot of it: Sebastian Vettel’s just done five or six in consecutive laps. This is because Red Bull are changing the way they do pit stops. They’re moving from the traditional ‘lollipop man’ release to the McLaren-style automated ‘traffic light’ system. The traffic light system was actually pioneered by Ferrari back when pit stops included refuelling. But it was unreliable and in Felipe Massa’s case in Singapore 2008 not only dangerous but also arguably, as the Brazilian was sent away from the pits with his fuel rig still attached, cost him that year’s World Championship. Anyway, things have come on since then and it’s a bit simpler without refuelling. “The way it works is that the wheel gun men all have a button that they press after they’ve completed their tasks. The same is true for the rear and front jack men. When all of those buttons have been pressed, the traffic light hanging down in front of the driver automatically goes green and the driver goes. The benefit of it over the lollipop system is that it removes one person’s reaction time: namely the lollipop man, who no longer has to do a little visual check that everybody is finished before he lifts his lollipop. In terms of time, it’s thought to save around three tenths of a second. No wonder Red Bull have to practice because all the mechanics need to remember to press their button. If they don’t, the light stays red and the driver isn’t going anywhere. The chief mechanic (who at this test is new) also has to get the hang of the override button, which he uses to keep the light red if another car is coming down the pitlane to avoid an unsafe release. “It seems to be working for Red Bull: I timed the stops and they averaged around 2.8-2.9 second mark, which is pretty good for starters. It’s just a hunch but I think Red Bull (who were previously F1’s pit stop kings) were annoyed that McLaren stole their crown last season. Just to remind you that McLaren hold the current world record at 2.31 seconds.”
Times last year: 1. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, 1:22.608, 112 Laps 2. Sergio Perez, Sauber, 1:22.648, 85 Laps 3. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, 1:22.891, 104 Laps 4. Fernando Alonso, Ferrari, 1:23.180, 87 Laps 5. Daniel Ricciardo, Toro Rosso, 1:23.639, 50 Laps 6. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, 1:23.806, 120 Laps 7. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1:24.555, 82 Laps 8. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, 1:25.738, 117 Laps 9. Vitaly Petrov, Caterham, 1:26.605, 69 Laps 10. Charles Pic, Marussia*, 1:27.343, 108 Laps
Sauber using PDRS on their car now: please log in to view this image Nice shot of the Mercedes front wing with the paint included: please log in to view this image
Ermagherd! Vettel's gone fastest! On mediums! What does this mean!?!? He's being victimized by everybody!! Championship to lose!! Panic!!!
Those 2 laps Seb did were actually pretty impressive, both of them were faster than Alonso's and he was able to go again and set another lap where Alonso just went back in. Only a drop off of 0.5 rather than a second yesterday, tyre wear looks good on that car...
Look at Hamilton's drop off in column one. Well that didn't work, his recent run has showed a steep cliff in laptimes.
Not bad Lewis not bad A bit of a drop but the first 2 laps were nice and seems to be holding well at the 26 mark which makes it likely he is running a bit lighter than McLaren and Ferrari yesterday. Also reports saying they're using the 2013 spec exhaust again.
AMuS: Patrick Antal asks Lewis Is drove his best time with the old exhaust solution? Answer: No, Mercedes has the variants quickly converted the last run was with the new exhaust. asks André Pribbenow: In pictures you can at Mercedes see the Coanda exhaust her writes, they drive the 2012 version. Do you have clear photos? Answer: Unfortunately, Mercedes has covered the exhaust during the test run in the morning right with a cloth. In this photo you can see the tail pipe easily. We hope later to be able to give better photos. Mike Schmidt asks: Take all of the teams with the Coanda exhaust? What makes this so efficient Auspuffart? Answer: By now, all teams a Coanda exhaust available. All details on the differences and the operation can be found in our technical analysis .
